Review: Essence Studio Mattifying + Pore Minimizing Primer

This long-named primer was in last autumn’s Bluxbox: the Studio Mattifying + Pore Minimizing Primer from Essence. Wow, that is quite a name. And, strange but true, I have never tried this budget brand before. Surprise me, Essence!

About Essence

Most of you will be familiar with Essence: a budget-friendly brand you can find at your local drugstore. But what does the band itself tell us? The website seems very tuned into young girls and ladies – so not my category.

According to their own philosophy, Essence focuses on offering easily available products that enable you to discover your own style en look good while doing that!

And that seems right to me: Essence is easy to get, very affordable (especially for ladies in college who need to get their makeup fix from whatever they can scrounge together and don’t need for rent or food) – and they always have nice things! You can get essentials as well as the latest trends from this brand.

About the Essence Primer

Okay, I am NOT going to call it the Studio Mattifying + Pore Minimizing Primer all the time. I’ll just call it the Essence Primer – way shorter and easier to remember, right?

Anyway, this primer is grey when you squeeze it out of the tube. Yes, grey. That is because it’s made of clay, and that should be nice for your skin.

The tube features a small tip at the end, so you can easily portion out the right amount for you without overusing – very handy! Other than the colour and this handy little feature there is not much to tell. The scent is pretty neutral, which is nice when you have to add a few additional layers of makeup after.

Essence cosmetics gives you easy access to great products that inspire you to express who you are with style, confidence and fun.

Essence.eu

Product use

According to the tube, you can use this primer underneath your makeup, or just as is, without any additional layers. And that is a good thing, because I am not much into foundations and such. I just don’t have the time for it! But even without adding all that makeup it promises to make your pores look less big and create a smooth base.

I have tried this primer a few times and I honestly have to say I did not notice any significant differences. My pores looked a bit smaller, but little red spots were still visible, so no smooth base.

So the mattifying part of the name is pretty accurate. I have a somewhat oily skin on my forehead and chin, and the mattifying effect is because that oil gets absorbed by the primer. So this works!

Unfortunately I also have a few dry patches on my face, and that same absorbing effect causes even more dryness there – not so nice. Putting this primer on the oily areas only seems to work best for me.

My thoughts

For a budget brand, the Essence Primer is a pretty okay choice – even when you use it without foundation and other stuff. Your pores do get a bit less visible and if you have oily skin it will absorb some of the shiny stuff as well. I think this would be a great feature fit you have oily skin and apply makeup over this primer – this will keep everything from slithering off your face during the day. Then again, I did not test that, so I can’t say for sure.

I would not recommend this primer for people with dry skin: the dry patches on my face only got dryer using this and that did not feel good. I think people with dry skin will be better off looking for a more moisturising product instead.

Altogether I think the Essence Primer is a fine budget primer, but not suitable for every skin type. And yes, you can use it as a standalone product. I think it is mostly for people with normal to oily skin, but too drying for people with dry skin.

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